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Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

Volquez headlines Reds in Classic
Right-hander could be joined by Cueto, others on Dominican club

By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com

Each of the 16 teams participating in the upcoming World Baseball Classic released provisional rosters on Monday. And while players won't be wearing Cincinnati red and white, the Reds will certainly be well represented.

Seventeen players from the Reds' organization are listed on those rosters, which can include as many as 45 players.

The final rosters of 28 players -- including a mandatory 13 pitchers -- must be set by Feb. 24. Tickets can be purchased online through mlb.com.

Nowhere will the Reds' presence be more visible than on the Dominican Republic club, which could have as many as five Cincinnati players suiting up. Leading the group is 25-year-old Edinson Volquez, who will likely fill one of the Dominican Republic's rotation spots.

Fellow right-handers Francisco Cordero and Johnny Cueto are also among the 24 pitchers on the provisional roster. With none of the three having ever been able to represent the Dominican Republic in the Olympics, the Classic will provide a unique opportunity for these players to play for their native country.

And interestingly enough, they will be tutored by a former Reds player, Mario Soto. Soto, who played with Cincinnati from 1977-1988 and has mentored pitchers in the organization since, will serve as the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic.

Utility player Wilkin Castillo is listed as a catcher on the Dominican Republic roster and could serve as a backup to likely starting backstop Miguel Oliva. Willy Taveras, who signed with the Reds in December, is listed as one of six outfielders to be considered for the team.

Jerry Hairston is on Mexico's provisional roster.

The Reds will almost certainly have a starting presence on Team Canada. Joey Votto is the leading candidate to serve as the team's designated hitter. Three Reds Minor Leaguers -- right-handers Kyle Lotzkar and James Avery and left-hander Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette -- are also among the players being considered for final roster spots on the Canadian team.

Team Canada is paired with the United States, Venezuela and Italy in the first round, and the Reds could have representation on two of those three teams as well.

Ramon Hernandez is one of six catchers that the Venezuelan team is considering for its tournament roster. And left-handers Luca Panerati and Matteo Pizziconi, both of whom played for Cincinnati's Gulf Coast League team last season, could be on Team Italy.

It's a double-elimination format this time in the first two rounds. The winners from Toronto will meet the winners from Puerto Rico in the second round at Miami's Dolphin Stadium, while the winners from Tokyo will face the winners from Mexico City in San Diego's PETCO Park.

Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

Originally Posted by RedEye

I didn't realize Juan Carlos Sulbaran was Dutch. Huh!

Yep, he's from Curacao. There's some nice talent down there. Listen for the name Juremi Profar in a few years. He played in the 2008 Little League World Series and was easily the best player I saw in the tournament.

Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

Good to see our young ace throwing getting some extra work in...

Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

These are very disturbing numbers. The relievers have emerged relatively unscathed--sixteen of the thirty-two relievers in our study have outperformed their PECOTA, and sixteen have underperformed it. But the starting pitchers have been brutalized. Nineteen of the 26 starters--nearly three-fourths of our sample--have underperformed their PECOTA. In most cases, they havenít even come close to their projection. The weighted average ERA for the WBC starters is 5.49, a buck and a quarter higher than their PECOTAs. Keep in mind that these are supposed to be, quite literally, the best starting pitchers in the world, and that this performance has come over hundreds and hundreds of collective innings.

Silver's best guess as to explain the collective awfulness?

I donít think this is the result of overwork per se. The WBC pitch count limits were a necessary evil, and were relatively well-designed to prevent any one pitcher from bearing too much of the burden. No major league pitcher threw more than 14 innings in the Classic (Bartolo Colon and Jae Seo were tied at this threshold). Rather, I think the problem is that the pitchers had been taken out of their routines. They didnít get to see their trainer, pitching coach, or manager for a couple of weeks, they werenít able to relax in the low-pressure environment of the Grapefruit or Cactus Leagues, and so forth. The pitcher may have been throwing in a relief role for his national club, when he hadnít done that in the major leagues in years. If a certain pitching coach doesnít like his pitcher to throw breaking stuff early in camp, or his manager wanted to pull him out after a high-effort inning, there wasnít the opportunity to play it safe. This is why I think that the starting pitchers have been disproportionately affected as compared to the relievers--starting pitchers are creatures of habit and routine.

Interesting to remember back on and pause to reflect upon. The starters were horrible to start 2006, regardless of which country they pitched for in the WBC.

So, no, I am not particularly thrilled that Volquez and Cueto are about to enter the experiment vortex of this dealie, round 2. Maybe teams learned from 2006. I can only hope. Or at least hope that time has not faded such that teams forget just how bad it was for their starters who pitched in the WBC four years ago...

Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

To be exact, Volquez has thrown 21.2 innings and Cueto has thrown 15.2 IP. Plus they are both participating in the World Baseball Classic. A smart organization would have given them the choice between pitching in the DWL or WBC, not both.

Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

Gotcha, wasn't clear. The data from the first go round for the WBC and starting pitchers was scary. And the two pitchers the Reds are counting on most if they are to make the run at .500 are part of this experiment part II. Don't like it, even a little.

Re: 17 players from Reds organization to participate in 2009 World Baseball Classic

This is stupid. They should make sure their star players aren't going to do this. Just wears the arms down sooner. And the often injured Jerry Hairston is another mistake when it comes to this. There's also alot of money on Cordero and he's doing it?

They really need to change the World Baseball Classic some how or another. Do it after the regular season and for the teams that are in the playoffs don't allow their players to participate.

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